Hat hanger



March 10, 1953 w. E. STEPHENSON EI'AL HAT HANGER Filed April 17, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 w. E. STEPHENSON ETAL 2,630,921

HAT HANGER March 10, 1953 m m NW E m Filed April 17, 1950 Inventors WILLIAM E. STEP/150A! 4N0 EL Q5 Attorneys Patented Mar. 10, 1953 OFFICE HANGER williarii-Ei- Ste'phenson and-Nora! B.- Mithun, 1 Missoula, Mont.

APPl cationApri 'lZ 9;S ria1'N0.- 1.56252 4 Claims. (01. 211-32) a h ng s d ic 'wh ehi s i xpens :to

manufacture but which maynevertheless be used over andyover for a lon gxperiodqf time both' 'in the cleaning establishment gndin the home.

This device is not only of :assistanee to the merchant, in handlingand transporting the cleaned article,- but its utility to the customer encourages business and the hangerofiersian outlet for good will and advertisement.

Still other objects and advantages will "become apparent from the following description of the present invention illustrated in the accompany- :ingdrawings in which;

Figure 1 is a vperspective view showing one modification of :the invention.

Fi ure 2 is a pl n vi of the for of the invention shown in Figure :1 as stamped iron! a sheet of'cmaterial.

Figu e i a bot om vi o a c rdboa d orm u in c n ect o with e pres ntinvent n to hold a d s p lsha e o t e thateure 4 is an e evatio iew o the' tmishown in Figure Figure ,5 is a pe spective-vi w sh wineoan ther modifi ati n of th nvent niFi ure 6 is a p a vi w of e han er shown Fi ur isure' 7..is a sectional viewia lie 'on line 1-1 of :Fi 6.

Similar r ference. cha ac er repre en si ar parts in the several figures.

At'the present t me it -.cus.tom rvi or-o1l.eaning establishments to deliver articles as hats in la e paper bags, The cost o the -c nvent n hat box makes i s use imoraetical fo "t i Wee f service- The use etapaper ba presents a number of pro lem during th han lin o "the garment, in that sreatcare must he taken both duri eit e stori g an transporting o t e" hat to .see that no -object is -l 1a d- Qn theme of the bag, thereby destroying 'theshape of the recently cleaned and blockedhat. Furthermore, when the'hat is ultimately received by the customer irom the cleaning establishment the problem then arises of finding a u'fiicientplaee to lodge the hat where it will be free from damage until worn. "Far too frequently-between the cleaning and the wearing-of the hat soilingor crushing occurs to the dissatisfaction of-both the cleaning establishment and the "customer.

E'he present invention has been devisedw-iththis problem in mind-and we havepresented both .a novel and inexpensive method, which-is of considerable helpboth to the service establishment and to the customer.

While this hat hanger may be'made from any number oftypes of materials the preferred and certainly the most feasible material which we vhave used is cardboard. As best seen in-Fig. 2 of ."the drawings, the entire hat-hangenmay be stamped inone operation from a'si-ngle sheet of cardboard and will present the general configuration" as shownin Fig. 2 when completed. This modification maybe for a matter 'of convenience, termed a deluxeorsenior model since it has a greater number of elements and accordingly oiIfers greater protection for the-hat. It consists basically of two panels of cardboard 10- and ll connected by means of a reduced neck portion 4 2 which'acts as a convenient hinge between the two panel On'the upper end of the front panel ll is' formed a conventionalhanging hookfii-t. Hook [3 has an inner a uat e 14 w ie over thejcpnventional clothes rod or pole in the cleamne'es s ent. he c e nin truck o n thehQmQ- .In the central portion of panel H is a hat receiving aperture defihedfalong its longitudinal edges by oppositely disposed arcua-te cut lines -15 and 1 6, 'that portionof panel H lying between "lines 15 and I6 is'further divided by means of a transverse cut line I]. While specific configurationiqf iine ji ha's'been'showninthe drawing, it of course tobe understoodthat any-convenient configuration maybe-selected for this line. -When the outlin i heebe n ma eth o t w n lines 15 am 15 is thus' dividedjnto'two'segments I jland l9, "ill; will thus be seen that whena' hat i insert d i em'ene id of p nel H flaps and 19 "m y "be en o wa dl .e' ie' n 2' n I res ecti ely to st rm prot t naps forithe orown of he hat.

Al the ha iha b en i se t d thro ape ure an l a l as show in do edf n Figure -1 of the drawing, the brim ofthe' hat i s retained in place by means of a pair of oppositely disposed small flaps 22 and 23. These small flaps or tabs are cut directly from the material which goes to make up panel H and are bent along lines 24 and 25 respectively, in a direction opposite to the crown protecting flaps l9 and 23. As best seen in Fig. l of the drawings, flaps 22 and 23 retain the hat in an inserted position within the aperture in panel I I. The resistance to bending of the hinge lines 24 and 25 of these small flaps will cause the hat to be retained within the aperture until such time as it is desired to remove the hat whereby flaps 22 and 23 may then be bent out of place and the brim of the hat released.

The free end of panel ll! of the hat hanger is provided with the spacing flange 26 similar in size and shape to the hinge member [2 previously described. At each end of flange 26 there is pro- A more simple modification of the invention is shown at 33 in Fig. 5 of the drawing. This form of hat hanger may be conveniently termed a junior model since it in reality contains only a single cardboard panel 40. Similar to the other modification the hanger 33 contains a hook element Ba, a hat crown receiving aperture and a pair of oppositely disposed crown flaps "la and 43a. The arcuate edges- ISaand Ilia of the hat receiving aperture may if desired be provided with a plurality of radial slits 4|. This permts the aperture to adapt itself to larger size hat crowns and assists in retention of the hat within the hanger device.

Rim retaining flaps 22a and 23a are likewise provided in this modification. As seen in Fig. 5

vided a hook-shaped connecting tab 21 having 7 a hook portion 28 pointing inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the hanger device. Each tab 21 may be bent along line 29 and folded downwardly to be engaged in a receiving slot 30 formed in panel ll of the hanger. These slots 30 are inclined and adapted to receive the hook portions 28 of the connecting tabs. As best seen in Fig. l of the drawing when tabs 27 are inserted within slot 30 the hat hanger then becomes a box-like structure completely encircling the brim of the hat. Panel H is likewise provided with a pair of oppositely disposed spacing flanges 3! located on each side of the hanger element 23.

Another element of the invention is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing. This element consists of a cardboard form having a dome-like configuration corresponding to the inner surface of the crown portion of the hat. The form consists of two separate sheets of cardboard 32 and 33 each sheet being fiat along its lower edge 34 and having an upper arcuately curved edge 340:. One sheet is out along its central axis half way up from its bottom edge and the other sheet is out along its central axis half way down from its top edge. This enables one sheet to be slipped over the other in order to permit the cross construction shown in Figure 3 much in the same manner as the conventional cardboard compartments of an egg crate. At the bottom edge of sheet 32 are formed a pair of flanges or flaps 35 and 36. These flanges may be folded to extend horizontally in opposite directions. Likewise on the lower edge of sheet 33 are formed flanges 3'! and 38 which are folded in opposite directions.

Flanges 35 and 36 are provided with small longitudinal slits 35a and 33a, respectively. This enables flange 35 to engage its adjacent flange 37 on the other sheet, and also enables flange 35 to engage its corresponding flange 38. This method of providing holes and slots enables the form to be held together as a single element so that it may be conveniently used.

As shown by the dotted lines in Figure l the form comprising sections 33 and 32 is placed within the hat crown. The hat is then inserted through the receiving aperture in panel ii thereby forcing retaining flaps l9 and outwardly as shown in Figure 1. Next the hat brim is threaded within the flaps 22 and 23 on the reverse side of panel I l in order that the hat may be retained in the aperture. Panel i0 is then folded upwardly to completely encase the hat brim and the hook tabs H are bent downwardly and inserted within slots 30 and panel ll. Thus the hat is completely retained within the hat hanging device.

hat and holder are placed in a paper bag, the

hook end I3 will extend out of the bag opening, and the corners of the bag may be folded over and fastened. The hat may then be conveniently hung in the laundry, in the truck of the delivery driver or in the home of the customer. The hat which has been cleaned and blocked will remain free from dirt or crushing at all time, during delivery or storage of the hat. This naturally insures greater satisfaction with the cleaning service provided by the merchant. The actual cost of the hanger to the merchant is insignificant and for this reason may be deemed expendible by him. Thus the hanger may be retained by the customer for future use and as a constant reminder of the satisfactory service of the cleaning establishment. The provision of sufiicient area on the hanger for advertising material provides the customer with a permanent reminder of the services available by the merchant.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that variation in details of form may be made without departure from the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

We claim: r I

1. A hat hanger comprising a' first panel of material having an aperture therein adapted to receive the crown of a hat, a hook formed on one end of said panel, a second panel of material hingedly connected to the end of said first panel opposite said hook, said second panel having a free end thereon, and means releasably connecting said free end of the second panel to the hook end of the first panel when the second panel is moved to a plane parallel to the first panel.

2. A hat hanger comprising a first panel of material having an aperture therein adapted to. receive the crown of a hat, ahook formedonone end of said panel, a second panel of material hingedly connected to the end of said first panel opposite said hook, said second panel having a free end thereon, hook shaped tabs on said free end, the hook end of the first panel having'slots formed therein for receiving said tab'when the second panel is positioned in a plane parallel" to the first panel.

3. A hat hanger comprising a sheet of mate rial, the central portion of said sheet being cut into segments, each of said segments having an uncut edge hingedly attached to the sheet, and each being pivotally movable outwardly from the plane of said sheet, said sheet having an aperture formed by pivotal displacement of the segments, said segments substantially closing said aperture when lying in the plane of said sheet, said segments extending outwardly of said plane of said sheet adjacent said aperture and adapted to protect the crown of a hat received in said aperture.

4. A hat hanger comprising a sheet of material, the central portion of said sheet being cut into segments, each of said segments having an uncut edge hingedly attached to the sheet and each being pivotally movable outwardly from the plane of said sheet, said sheet having an aperture formed by displacement of the segments, said segments substantially closing said aperture when lying in the plane of said sheet, and hat rim retaining flaps on said sheet, said segments extending outwardly of said plane of said sheet 6 adjacent said aperture and adapted to protect the crown of a hat received in said aperture.

WILLIAM E. STEPHENSON. NORAL B. MITHUN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 35,246 Stowell Oct. 29, 1901 927,499 Davis July 13, 1909 2,146,109 Curtis Feb. 7, 1939 15 2,494,487 Pfeil Jan. 10, 1950 2,494,488 Pfeil Jan. 10, 1950 2,503,840 Pfeil Apr. 11, 1950 2,535,136 Jacobson Dec. 26, 1950 

